Dubai aviation enthusiast recreates Etihad A380’s luxury cabin at home after 224 flights

A Dubai resident who has flown on the Airbus A380 224 times has brought the experience of the superjumbo’s most exclusive accommodation into his living room. Arun Rajagopal, an aviation lover, transformed a section of his apartment into a replica of the living area of The Residence, the three-room suite offered by Etihad Airways on its A380 aircraft.

Visitors are greeted with a scented towel handed over personally by the host, while soft airline boarding music plays in the background. Plush leather seats, aircraft-style windows, an entertainment screen and carefully arranged airline accessories complete the atmosphere. There is no aircraft, no cabin crew and no destination — only the look and feel of one of commercial aviation’s most luxurious cabins.

From dream to living room

For most people, installing an aircraft cabin at home would be an extraordinary indulgence. For Rajagopal, it seemed a natural extension of his lifelong passion for aviation. “My living space reflects my passion for aviation. I know this is not the real thing, but it is as close as the real thing would be on the ground,” he said.

The installation reproduces the cream leather seating, sliding partition, storage compartments and other features of The Residence’s living area, which Etihad introduced in 2014. Rajagopal has travelled in The Residence seven times. Bringing the replica together took about a year, with the actual setup in his home completed in a single day. “The installation at home took only a day, but the whole process took about a year. I was so excited bringing the sky home,” he added.

Wings Craft, a UAE-based specialist aviation upcycling company, spent nearly a year restoring and adapting the installation. The work involved far more than arranging furniture: aircraft cabins rely on sophisticated electrical and mechanical systems, and many fittings depend on equipment built into the aircraft. The entertainment screen proved particularly challenging: Wings Craft had to find a suitable television and make it work within a space designed for a specialised inflight entertainment system. The sliding doors, lighting and other features also required careful attention.

Rajagopal points out the many features of the cabin, explaining the purpose of different compartments, how the doors operate and how closely the finished arrangement resembles the onboard experience. Souvenirs and memorabilia from his journeys, including objects connected to aircraft that have particular significance for him, are on display. This includes the parking brake of an A380 and the wheel of an A380 that has been upcycled into a coffee table.

Despite the prominent place the replica occupies in his home, Rajagopal does not intend to turn his apartment into a public attraction. He prefers to enjoy his passion quietly. “To be surrounded by all these aviation memorabilia and collector’s items gives me a lot of energy,” he said.

A record that spans the globe

Rajagopal’s flying record is extraordinary: he has travelled approximately 1.16 million kilometres on the A380 and spent more than 60 days of his life in the air on that aircraft type. He has flown on 97 individual A380s — nearly four out of every 10 of the 251 delivered to airlines worldwide — and visited 59 destinations across six continents aboard the aircraft. He has flown on 114 different city pairs. His most frequently flown aircraft is A6-EEX, which he has boarded eight times, and he has occupied seat 2A on 13 occasions, more than any other seat.

He has also taken 61 inaugural flights, of which 49 have been on the A380. That means more than one in every five of his A380 journeys has been an inaugural service. On a single day in 2022, he completed three A380 sectors covering 22,148 kilometres. He has celebrated seven birthdays aboard aircraft.

His passion began in childhood. He remembers his first flight at the age of seven and can still recall the food served onboard. As a child, he collected boarding passes and inflight magazines. The interest stayed with him as he grew older. Once he started earning, he could travel more frequently. In 2025, he flew 100 commercial flights across 31 airlines, covering 58 airports, 85 routes and 50 countries. He travelled on 26 different aircraft types, notching 233,000 kilometres — the equivalent of 5.8 times around the Earth.

His first A380 flight came on 11 March 2009. He travelled in economy class and remembers feeling delighted simply to be onboard. At the time, the premium cabins on the upper deck seemed another world. Today, 95.5 per cent of his A380 flights have been in premium cabins. “I have been lucky to be part of the life story of the A380. When it is gone, people will miss it,” he said.

He recalls seeing an Airbus A380 at London’s Heathrow Airport when the double-decker jet was still relatively new. Looking at the enormous aircraft, he thought he might never have the opportunity to fly aboard one. Now he has flown on nearly 40 per cent of all A380s delivered worldwide.

The journey is the destination

For Rajagopal, flying is not merely a means of getting somewhere. “I like to spend time on flights. The destination is often secondary. What matters is the journey itself,” he said. He describes a favourite trip from Dubai to Colombo via Male that allows him to spend hours aboard an aircraft and return home without taking a conventional holiday. On another occasion, he flew from Dubai to Milan, continued to New York and then returned on the same service, completing three flight sectors in roughly 24 hours.

“The flight is the attraction and the journey is the destination,” he said. He enjoys almost everything associated with being aboard an aircraft, from the sounds of its systems to the views offered by external cameras. “I never watch movies on a flight. I only watch the camera or the map,” he said. He pays close attention to the sounds of flight and recognises the distinctive noises associated with different aircraft and different stages of a journey. He rarely sleeps for long during flights, preferring to remain awake and absorb the experience. Music forms another part of his personal flying routine: he has playlists for different stages of the journey, including taxiing and take-off.

He funds his travels himself. “I pay for my personal travels and spend considerable time researching fares and planning itineraries. I use this for my joy and would like to keep it this way as much as possible,” he said. He uses loyalty miles, looks for favourable ticket prices and chooses multi-sector journeys that maximise his time in the air. He has a demanding job and plans his travels around available leave, weekends and work responsibilities.

After hundreds of flights, what still makes a journey special? “As a child, the novelty of flying was enough. Later, the aircraft, food and comforts of premium cabins became part of the attraction. Today, I place importance on the people who make a journey memorable. The one thing I look forward to these days is the service – how people take care of you from the first touch point,” he said. He appreciates cabin crew who take genuine pride in their work and deliver hospitality with warmth and attention. He recalls flying on an ageing aircraft operated by Myanmar Airways International and enjoying an exceptionally good experience because of the crew’s hospitality.

Looking ahead

Airbus ended production of the A380 in 2021. Five of the individual A380s Rajagopal has flown have already been retired. His travel records document not only his personal journeys but also the changing history of an aircraft that has occupied a special place in his life. Living in Dubai, with its extensive international air connections and position as a global aviation hub, has helped him pursue his passion.

His next goals are to fly on his 100th individual A380 and complete his 50th inaugural A380 service. “If I have a flight tomorrow, I treat it like my first flight,” he said. Rajagopal’s passion for the A380 has received industry recognition. He was featured in the aviation documentary “The Battle of the Giant Planes,” where he shared his perspectives as an A380 enthusiast.